I won’t lie, the opening number had me worried. This Half-Step completely derails, to the point where nobody is quite sure how to get it back on track - jam through a solo? Chorus? Next verse? “On my way?” It’s an embarrassing mistake to start things off with. It happens. Rather than let it drag the rest of the night down, the boys seem to soak it, own it, and use it to take things up a notch in a hurry. The Race Is On bust out is quite a rug cutter, and serves as the perfect way out of the hole they’ve dug themselves: a fast, easy, fun rocker that surely had Bobby and Kreutzmann getting those spinners spinning. Lazy River Road is quite poignant. I’ve never heard Jerry holler out the last line like that. The last three songs of the first set are nicely done by all.

The jam out of China Cat Sunflower is pretty gooey, and Jerry doesn’t hesitate to really throw down the headlight lyric in I Know You Rider. Samba is awful. Women and Truckin’ are both pretty good, with the latter seeing Phil enthusiastically belting out some vocals and Jerry offering some crafty guitar licks after the final verse.

This seems like more of an 80’s approach to Drums > Space - it’s not as long, technological, or scientific as many of the mid-90’s ones. In the Mars-like landscape of Nevada, it’s just a quick dip into the cosmos before rolling into a Rolling Stones rocker. That Would Be Something > Morning Dew is an incredible Garcia set closer, and the clear show highlight. It’s amazing how they could just be strolling through a second set, and out of nowhere just summon the fire out of thin air. Despite the “we want Phil” chants, OMSN is the expected but solid Ace encore.

The first song of this show is the only one where they seem lost. The rest is pretty solid, especially given the temperature they were operating in. Overall this is a nice little ‘95er, if you’re a fan of the era it’s well worth a listen! It’s an interesting setlist spread as well, in that no two songs originated from the same album. Beatles, Stones, Dylan, Dead, and more. Thank you taper, this recording is a nice pull!